Brake.



W. J. SMITH.

BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1909.

Patent ed June 7, 1910;

17 7 I mm nnmnnmmmml WTNESSES: 1 wflgibfi MW BY ATTORNEY ANDREW c3vGFJWAM m. wno'muwcsnwusns. WASHWGTON, n cy W. J. SMITH.

BRAKE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1909.

Patented June 7, 1910.

2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

. 'IHH III llll " 1 Ft i I/VVEIVTOH 4 e ATTORNEYS WiLLIAlVI JUDSONSMITH, on ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June *7, 1910.

Application filed November 8, 1909. Serial No. 526,706.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JUDsoN SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State ofMinnesota, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements inBrakes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in brakes for railway cars, andmore particularly to devices for maintaining the brake shoe in itsproper position relative to the rim or periphery of the wheel with whichit comes in frictional contact when the brake is applied.

It frequently happens by reason of the faulty construction andarrangement of the parts comprising the brake, one end of the shoe, whenthe brake is released, will remain in contact with the rim of the wheeland be completely worn away, while the opposite end of the shoe is butlittle or partially worn away, thereby not only causing a drag on thewheels while revolving, but also materially lessening the life of theshoe and necessitating its early scrapping.

The object of my invention is to so con struct and arrange the severalparts comprising the braking mechanism that the wearing face of the shoewill always he held in a position concentric with the rim of the wheel,causing an even wear on the shoe and materially increasing the lifethereof, and with these and other ends in view, the invention consistsin certain novel features of construction, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation of apart of a brake constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is asectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front Viewof the brake lever, and Fig. 4 a view in side elevation thereof, thelower end being shown in section. Fig. 5 is a front view of the brakehead, and Fig. 6 a view in side elevation, the lower end of one of thesides thereof being broken away.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents the frame work of the car, towhich are secured the brackets 11, and to which latter in I turn arepivotally secured the upper ends of the links or hangers 12, employedfor the purpose of supporting the brake lever 13. This brake lever 13 isfulcrumed at its lower end to the bar or rod 14, having thereon theturn-buckle 15, the opposite end of said bar 14 being likewise securedto the brake lever forming part of the brake mechanism for thecorresponding wheel, (not shown).

To the upper end of the lever 13 is pivotally secured the rod 16, bymeans of which said lever is operated, the lever being pivotally securedto the hangers 12 between its upper and lower ends, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Connected to the lever 13 aresprings 17 and to the rod 16 are connected springs 18 for the purpose ofreturning the several parts of the mechanism to their normal positionswhen the brake is released, and which forming no part of the presentinvention, need no further description'.

The brake lever 13 is preferably constructed as illustrated in Figs. 3and 4, that is, with a hole or receptacle 19 for the reception of oneend of a coiled spring 20, the opposite end of said spring fittingbetween the sides or flanges 21 of the brake head 22 secured to thebrake lever 13 by the bolt 23 which pivots the lower end of the hangers12 to said lever. Into this brake head, and between the sides 21, isthreaded one end of the post or stud 24, around which is coiled one endof the spring 20, for the purpose of retaining the latter in its properposition, and the tendency of which spring is to hold the lower end ofthe head 22 with its attached brake shoe 25 concentric with the rim orperiphery of the wheel 26, and prevent the upper end from remaining incontact with the rim of the wheel when the brake is released.

By thus constructing and arranging the several parts, a pull on the rod16 will cause the brake lever 13 supported on the hangers 12 andfulcrumed at the lower end to the rod 14, to travel toward the wheel 26,carrying with it the head 22 and the attached shoe 25, the latter at alltimes being held concentrio with the rim of the wheel by means of thespring 20 held permanently in place within the receptacle 19 formed inthe brake lever and around the stud or post 24.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a brakelever provided with a recess, of a brake head pivotally secured to saidlever and provided with a post, and a spring, one end of which fits insaid recess in said brake lever and the opposite end around said post,substantially as described.

2. In a brake of the character described, the combination With a brakelever provided With a recess, of a brake head pivotally secured to saidlever and formed With tWo sides, a post located between the sides ofsaid head and having one end threaded into said head, and a spring, oneend of which fits in Signed at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin,and State of Minnesota, this 1st day of November, A. D. 1909.

WILLIAM J UDSON SMITH, Witnesses:

HAROLD W. BALLOU, GEORGE G. BALLOU.

